(Minghui.org) I am a high school teacher and a Falun Dafa practitioner. I started practicing Dafa since I was in high school 21 years ago, and I'd like to share some stories of my cultivation and how I adhered to Master Li Hongzhi's teachings and conducted myself in my daily life according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
“We Have Never Seen Such a Good Teacher”
As a teacher, I frequently interacted with my students and their parents. In the process, I kept reminding myself of Master's teaching,
“You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything. Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone. In doing so, there will not be any problems.” (Zhuan Falun)
I used to earn a monthly salary of 400 yuan when I first started my teaching career. One day, a parent handed me a red envelope with 200 yuan in it. Realizing that my repeated refusal was in vain, I kept the money for the time being and started thinking about how to deal with it. At the time a student happened to be gravely ill and the school administration called upon all staff and students to donate for the student's medical treatment. So I donated the 200 yuan I received.
Later, as the school publicized the list of donors and their contributions, everyone learned that I donated the most. Seizing this opportunity, I told the students in my class about how I got the money and that I would not treat them any differently with or without a bribe. I also advised everyone to tell their parents not to give me money anymore. Then, I continued to talk about the teachings of Dafa and that a Dafa practitioner was supposed to uphold a high moral standard. My students were attentive in the process and looked at me with respect. My talk was interrupted by applause from time to time.
Another incident happened a few months before the college entrance exam. A parent handed me two thousand yuan in an envelope and asked me to give her child special attention in exam preparation. Despite my repeated refusal, she insisted on my acceptance. I could see the high hopes fixed with anxiety in her eyes regarding her child's scholastic performance. I thought to myself, “She does not know me as a practitioner. If I turned her away coldly, she would feel even more uncertain about her child's exam. I should return the money after the exam.” So I accepted the money and set it aside.
The day after the exam, as she came to the school for her child's dormitory belongings, I handed her the same envelope. She seemed to be confused initially and did not know how to react.
I told her, “It is a teacher's responsibility to help each and every student in their study and supervise their progress in school. As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I must conduct myself according to Dafa teachings. Your kind and good will is well received. But I cannot accept the money. I accepted it before as I feared you would be upset. Now I am returning the money so that you can use it for anything you see fit.”
Upon hearing my explanation, she was surprised and filled with gratitude, “I have never seen such a good teacher!”
Later, due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s persecution of Falun Dafa, I was forced to leave my teaching post and transfer to a private school as a mid-level administrator in charge of the purchase and distribution of textbooks. I was very earnest and disciplined in handling every penny I received from students as they purchased textbooks.
The school accountant once told me in surprise, “Nowadays good people like you are a rarity. Other people would just keep the money in their own pockets whenever possible. But you are different and I respect you for that.”
One day the local 610 Office personnel took me to the brainwashing center. Many of my students submitted a signed letter to the principal and requested that the school demand my immediate release.
Another time as the 610 Office authorities came to the school, my students came to inform me, “Teacher, there are some bad people at the front gate who might want to hurt you. Please leave right away.”
Later, they told me, “They asked us to speak ill of you but none of us did. We told them that we had never seen such a good teacher like you.”
I knew that, through previous truth-clarification and my personal demonstration, my students were clear-minded about right and wrong, good and bad. They knew how to make their own judgment. Years after graduation, some of my students often came back to visit.
They told me, “The best fortune in our high school years was to come across a good teacher like you!”
“It Is Such a Shame How the Government Is Treating You”
Once I was arrested and taken to the local detention center by the 610 Office. In the beginning, I noticed it was commonplace for some inmates to beat others, arbitrarily reduce their portions of food, and deliberately humiliate them. As a direct result, some inmates were very depressed and committed suicide.
As the detention center held a monthly speech contest, I utilized the opportunity to write speeches to expose various issues and dissolve inmates' cruelty and violence with Dafa teachings and the benevolence I obtained through my cultivation. After a while, some of them had their kind nature awakened and their depression lessened. Every time I made a speech, the audience would applaud from time to time while some would shout out, “Bravo! Fantastic!” Upon returning to my own cell, my cellmates would give me a thumbs-up. Some told me, “Your speeches are really good. I loved the stories you told.”
My cellmates would not interfere with my doing Dafa exercises. On the contrary, they oftentimes urged me to practice. They also offered me more food out of respect and said, “You are the accomplished one among us. You've earned it.”
Gradually, there were fewer quarrels among inmates and less arbitrary food quota reductions. Along the way, other practitioners' living conditions were improved markedly. I became a celebrity in the detention center. Everyone knew the detention center had a knowledgeable and well-respected teacher who practiced Falun Dafa. As I walked across the hallway, I would hear greetings from cells on both sides.
The guards were also pleased and often asked me to sit down and have a chat in their spare time. Thus, I talked to them about the story of Dafa and the persecution. Most staff, including the warden, guards, cooks, drivers, and maintenance workers, had heard my truth clarification on various occasions. Many guards and maintenance workers complimented me.
“Falun Dafa practitioners are indeed good people!” they said.
There was one time that a guard asked me to come to her office and help her sort out some accounting issues. In the following two hours, I had a chance to talk to her in depth about Dafa.
After listening attentively in silence, she said to me, “It is such a shame how the government is treating you Dafa practitioners!”
At that moment, I was so moved by the kindness from her awakened true self. My eyes were filled with tears of joy.
In the hundreds of days I spent at the detention center, almost all of the inmates within my reach had listened to my truth clarification and the majority of them had quit CCP and its associated organizations. Many wanted to learn Falun Dafa and asked to get in touch with me once they were released. Some followed my suggestion and kept reciting 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good' in their daily lives.
“Our Family Is Blessed By Dafa”
When I was in college, there were three classmates and two professors who were also Dafa practitioners. Other students often picked up our Dafa books to read. We would grab the chance and talk to them about Dafa, and everybody was very supportive of us.
After the persecution started, none of my classmates participated. Instead, they were all concerned for our safety and well being. Over ten years later at a reunion, they told me, “You guys were tangible, positive examples of Dafa practitioners in our own lives. How could we believe the propaganda and lies on TV against our own experience?”
My father contracted schistosomiasis in his fifties, which resulted in poor health and weak physical strength. Sometimes he could not even walk on his own. During my detention, he was in deep fear and worry. His temperament deteriorated along with his health. A fortune teller told him that he would not be able to live past 62 years old.
After I was released, I explained the facts about Falun Dafa to both my parents, until they were clear-minded about Dafa and started to recite “Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” My father's health soon improved. He regained a good spirit and his temper became well under control. Now he is in his seventies and still able to work on the farm. There is a strong consensus in my family that “we are truly blessed by Dafa.”
My parents-in-law also practice Falun Dafa. Two of my sisters each obtained their own copy of Zhuan Falun. My third eldest sister and her husband wear the Dafa amulet I gave them and have been reciting “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Their business has become much more prosperous since.
My eldest sister and her husband used to have a hair salon out of town. Due to the prevailing moral degradation in today's society, many hair salons have underground prostitution as part of their businesses. Their salon was no exception, and they had made such illegal profits. I often reasoned with them from the perspective of Dafa.
“Such indecent business would reduce your virtue and bring more karma,” I said.
Later, they finally closed their salon and came back to town to start a normal small business. My sister told me, “Our past business was truly immoral. Now I am sure that the Dafa you practice is really a righteous one.”
My wife's grandma believes in Dafa wholeheartedly. Upon getting up in the morning, she would read the book Zhuan Falun. She recites 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good' whenever she gets a chance. Although she is 95 years old now, she can do some sewing work in the morning and take a walk outside in the afternoon.
One day, she was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street. Her heel bone was fractured and she had to get a cast and be hospitalized for seven days. She and her family did not try to extort money from the motorist as ordinary people would nowadays. Lying in bed at home, she listened to Master's Fa lecture every day and kept reciting. In about two months, she could walk slowly. Now she does not even need a cane for assistance. Others were amazed by her speedy and full recovery. She believes that it was a blessing from Dafa.
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